A/N: First off- 100 REVIEWS!!!! :D anyway, okay, I know that the last chapter was 'creepy' (the most popular phrase), but it was necessary, I swear! I promise that, although the Ron/Hermione scenes will most definitely be creepier than it has been, our friends in the train carriage (aka Harry, Ginny, Draco, Pansy) will be more along the lines of what it has been like before. Humorous (hopefully…), light, etc. enjoy! This chapter is not my best, but it's not bad. Please review. :)
--PREVIOUSLY--
"Well this won't be easy. But I can do it," [Pansy] added confidently, looking closely at it…
"Then you'd better hurry up," Ginny's small voice interrupted. "'Cause it looks like this mirror likes the company."
Ron backed away slowly, not able to take his eyes off of the ghostly specter in front of him. Then, as she spoke, every hair on the nape of his neck prickled with horror and disgust: "You don't belong here."
--
"Okay, okay, no one panic!" Pansy mumbled frantically as they looked at the mirror, wringing her hands out and pacing back and forth. Draco made a face.
"You're making me seasick," he said shortly. She stopped, and rather than flash him the customary glare she sighed apologetically.
"Sorry…this is just…really bad."
"Thank you Pansy," Draco said sarcastically, "what a brilliant assessment of the position!"
"Whatever." Pansy waved the comment away hastily, plopping down next to Harry. He looked at her in concern.
"What are we going to do?" he asked quietly. She looked up.
"Well, I was thinking sleep," Pansy replied leaning back. Ginny got up furiously; time to make her presence known once again.
"Sleep?!? How can you be thinking of sleep at a time like this? My brother and one of my best friends is stuck in a mirror and you want to sleep?!?" she shrieked. Draco winced at the high pitch.
"Bloody hell Weasley," he muttered, putting a hand over his ear.
"This isn't the first time I haven't agreed with you about an idea of yours, and remember how that one ended up?" Ginny finished angrily, brushing a stray piece of wispy hair out of her face. Pansy leapt up, narrowing her eyes at the girl who was previously somewhat her ally.
"We'll never get them out if we fall asleep in the middle of a difficult spell!" Pansy roared in reply. This time, both Harry and Draco groaned and held their breath apprehensively for Ginny to respond. Her expression was twisting into an incredibly unattractive face of fury.
"Then get some caffeine or something, I don't care! I want them out of that mirror and the sooner you do it the sooner I shut up!" Ginny yelled hoarsely, her voice evidently wearing out.
"So tempting…" Draco moaned in the corner. Pansy and Ginny turned to him simultaneously.
"Shut up!"
"Okay, well, I think it's obvious we need to figure something out," Harry cut in quickly, jumping to his feet as well. The two girls looked at him sullenly. "Right," Harry began nervously. "Umm…Pansy, you and I will work on a way to get them out. Ginny, Malfoy…sit tight." Both the redhead and the blond's jaws dropped as Pansy smirked widely.
"Are you joking?" Ginny asked incredulously. "Did you not just hear my rant??"
"Obviously still deaf to your blithering Weasley," Draco sniggered, immensely enjoying the fact that a deep crimson was creeping up his new foe's neck.
"Wish I could say the same for you," she shot back, surprising them all. "You seem to enjoy my 'blithering' as you so poetically put it."
"Don't flatter yourself- your speech bores me to no end. Just be grateful I even considered touching you," he spat venomously. Harry narrowed his eyes at Draco, but instead of replying furiously with a Burning Curse like he wanted to he grabbed Ginny and jerked her to the side abruptly. She squealed in surprise and turned to face him.
"Whaat?" Ginny asked in annoyance, sounding very much like the little bratty sister.
"You've got to stop doing this Gin," Harry whispered urgently, all too aware that both Slytherins were craning their necks and ears to hear their conversation.
"Why not?" Ginny asked, sulking with her arms crossed in front of her.
Harry raised an eyebrow. "You want Ron and Hermione back?" he asked simply. Ginny bit her lip, sighed and nodded. "Thank you. Now, please, I need to work with Pansy to get them out- seems like she knows what she's talking about. I don't really need Malfoy in our hair as we do so, and I really hate to ask this but-"
Ginny interrupted him. "I get it Harry."
Smiling up at him warmly, and without any hesitation, she stood on her tiptoes and wrapped him in a hug- a sisterly hug. As she grinned into his shoulder and he, in surprise, patted her awkwardly on the back, she knew that it was set. She was Harry Potter's Sister-He-Never-Had. And incest is one of those things wizards and Muggles agree on; it's kinda gross.
--
Ron gawked at the floaty Hermione before him, who was eerie in a way that he couldn't understand. "What're you playing at?" he asked shakily, subconsciously inching away. The Hermione glared at him.
"Get out."
He looked at the apparition in shock; it looked like Hermione, and it spoke like Hermione, but something was telling him to run, and to do it fast. He was just about to turn around and scream bloody murder when a hand clamped over his mouth. His eyes widened in fright.
"Shut up Ron, just shut up and let me handle this." Ron almost fainted from pure relief when he recognized the bossy voice of his friend- Hermione??
She let go of his mouth and he stood up carefully, wiping it off almost as an instinct. The Hermione standing on the ground in front of him rolled her eyes and turned to the ghostly Hermione. "Push off you little trollop, I'm here now." The floating Hermione took in a rattly breath, looked at them both- and exploded into a thousand tiny blue wisps of nothing. Ron gaped and cautiously put out a hand, wiping it through it experimentally.
"What just happened Hermione?" he asked in awe, putting his hand back at his side. Hermione didn't answer, but came to stand next to him with her arms folded in irritation.
"Will you look at that? Didn't even have the consideration to clean up her leftovers!" she said irritably. Ron's jaw dropped in disbelief.
"Please tell me you're joking," he pleaded, turning to look at her. Hermione bit her lip and promptly burst out laughing. Ron scowled. "This is hardly the time for chuckling Hermione," he reprimanded, making it sound as if the two had switched personalities all of a sudden. She gasped and straightened up, still giggling slightly.
"Sorry Ron, I just- gosh this is a big place isn't it?" she said suddenly, looking around. Ron raised an eyebrow at her.
"What does that have to do with the price of mead in Iceland?" he asked.
"I mean, really big!" Hermione continued, looking around in wonderment and spreading her arms wide at her sides, acting as if he hadn't said anything at all. "I reckon you could fit at least five Hogwarts into here!"
"Hermione, what are you-" To Ron's astonishment, Hermione suddenly let out a long chain of giggles, spinning round in a circle and looking up at the non-existent sky. "Okay, you're seriously freaking me out here…"
"Ron?!?" He spun around quickly, heart beating uncharacteristically fast from the shock.
"Who is it?" he squinted into the mist, trying hard to ignore the shrieks of laughter from the giddy brunette behind him.
"It's me for God's sakes!" The last person Ron expected to ever emerge from the mist did- Hermione?
Ron fainted.
--
Draco Malfoy was feeling a little better about himself. Not only had he gotten back in the swing of things, he had successfully insulted the Weasel and gotten the blush that made him so satisfied. It meant he won. He smirked and leaned back as he lazily watched Potter try to calm her down. Pansy tapped her nails on a wood beam impatiently next to him before sitting down abruptly.
"Looks like a cozy get-together, eh?" she said dryly, kicking the floor of the compartment with a dull leather boot. Draco shrugged.
"Not really. Look, she's getting all annoyed," he pointed out as Ginny crossed her arms in front of herself sullenly.
"Hmmm good point," Pansy conceded, leaning back like he did before. "But hey now- what's this?" she said slyly when she saw Ginny swiftly hug Harry. "Guess I was right," she smirked.
"For once," Draco said smoothly, putting his hands behind his head comfortably and ignoring the urge the slam the black haired boy's head through a window. Pansy laughed quietly, surprising Draco slightly.
"Still got it for her don't you?" she remarked casually, with the air of one discussing their day at school. Draco blinked, but didn't say anything. "Fine, fine, don't tell me- but it's so obvious."
Before Draco really realized what he was saying, he replied "She's different than her idiot brother." Pansy's face broke into a huge, semi-malicious grin.
"Well yeah. What did you think, all Weasleys are alike?" she sniggered, tucking her leg under herself and getting more comfortable.
"Actually, yes," Draco said. I've already made a fool out of myself; no use holding back now. "I thought they were all lower class rodents who needed a good wash, proper clothes and a couple Galleons to rub together to keep warm in the winter." Pansy gave him a disbelieving look with her eyebrows. "What?? I'm serious!"
"Come off it- do you actually expect me to believe that that's your thought and not your parents'?" Pansy asked, scoffing. Draco opened his mouth to reply, shut it, and scowled darkly at the floor. "That's what I thought," she crowed triumphantly, and was just about to say something else when Harry and Ginny returned to them. Harry, Pansy noted, looked relieved, while Ginny was looking much calmer…at a peace of some kind. She gave her a questioning look, but Ginny didn't seem to notice.
"Okay…Gin and I have decided that the earlier plan was the best. Pansy, you-" Harry began.
"Since when are you King of the Carriage?" Draco interrupted haughtily in protest. "I mean, no offense Potty, but me and Park- Pansy," Pansy let a small smile perk up her lips, "know much more about Dark Objects than Gryffindor house combined!"
"You're probably right," Harry agreed, to his own and his companions' surprise, "but somehow I don't think putting you with Pansy will get our friends out any faster…since when do you care about them?" Draco shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets.
"Well I'm bored," he said, looking very much like he was with his dull gaze and slouching position. "I have nothing better to do."
"I'm going to work with Pansy on this mirror," Harry explained, ignoring Draco. "I've put Gin on Malfoy Duty, but I don't want to have to administer any sort of bandage to either of you by the end of this, ok?" Draco grunted in reply while Ginny chose to breathe in deeply rather than shriek in protest like before. "Good. All right, let's get cracking."
Pansy got up from her seat, smirked at Draco and Ginny, and walked over to Harry who was standing near the mirror curiously. Ginny sighed and sat down in the middle of the floor, facing Draco and hugging her knees slightly. He raised an eyebrow.
"I'm not going to just sit here," he informed her. Ginny didn't look up.
"I know."
This annoyed Draco. "How? How did you know?" he asked in annoyance. She rolled her eyes, unseen to him.
"Remember the bugs?" Draco nodded; how could he forget that squirming…writhing…gargantuan mass of- "anyway, you wouldn't let Harry go out by himself to take all the glory. So you beat him to it. Couldn't keep your bloody hands still," she mumbled to herself. Draco kept the eyebrow up.
"How did you know it was me who drove them away?" he asked her. Ginny shrugged.
"Harry looked as scared as you on your first Quidditch match," was the simple reply. Draco narrowed his eyes, ran two hands through his hair in aggravation and sighed, leaning his head back on the window and closing his eyes.
"You are maddening, you know that?" he muttered into his hands. Ginny grinned impishly at the weary boy.
"I know."
Meanwhile, Harry and Pansy were having difficulty with the mirror. "For Merlin's sakes Potter, don't go near the bloody thing! Stay at least two feet away," Pansy was hissing at him.
"I am! See? Two feet," Harry said irritably, pointing down at his feet. Pansy grunted in disapproval but didn't say anything else on the matter, and chose instead to pace in front of the object.
"So you touch it, and you're sucked into it…doesn't matter how long or how much…just one touch, for a split second…" she looked at Harry. "Am I getting this right?" Harry nodded. "And now Weasley and Granger's hair is all…intertwiney, and that probably means something…" she looked up suddenly. "Oh! Oh okay- it means they've met. Wherever they are, they've met."
"Are you sure?" Harry asked urgently, looking at the glassy reflector. "I mean, it looks more…"
"Violent? Yeah I know. But I'm almost positive I heard my dad say something about this. I forget what it's called, but I can almost certainly say that they've met. So they're together- 2 against whatever's there is better than 1 right?" she asked the question to no one in particular, so Harry didn't really find that he needed to answer it.
"Well, Ron's certainly in good hands. Can't exactly say the same for Hermione," Harry joked, grinning slightly. Pansy frowned.
"He went after her; she's in the best hands she can get Potter," she said quietly, sitting down. Harry leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees thoughtfully.
"Yeah…you know what?" he said, turning to his partner in solving the Mirror Mystery.
"What?" Pansy asked wearily.
"I reckon Ron fancies Hermione!" Harry exclaimed, as if he had just discovered penicillin. The carriage went silent, and Harry soon found himself with three wads of rolled up parchment thrown at him in exasperation.
"Very good!" the three sarcastic voices said together. Harry's eyes widened and he squeaked as he ducked the flying papers.
--
"Ron…Ron…oh come on, WAKE UP already!" Ron came to abruptly with a crisp 'SMACK' on the cheek. He sprang up clutching his cheek, face screwed up in aggravation.
"Oh thanks a lot, I really needed th-" he stopped short at the familiar face. "Okay, tell me what's going on now or I may just faint again." Hermione scowled and sat down next to him, but was unable to keep the small elated grin off of her face now that he was conscious.
"Can't blame you for being confused really. I was too…especially when I saw Malfoy prancing about throwing posies in the air from his basket. Kind of like a flower girl gone very wrong indeed." She looked down at him and attempted a grin, but all the response she got was a dark look. Hermione nervously took a lock of hair from behind her ear and began to chew on it as he spoke.
"Look, I don't know what's going on or who you are, but I need to find my friend," Ron said slowly, as if talking to someone very stupid. Hermione dropped the hair from her mouth in surprise.
"I AM your friend!" she said in protest, but Ron barreled on.
"…and if I don't find her soon, something might get her and then it'd be very, very bad," Ron was saying, getting faster with his growing anxiety. Hermione opened her mouth to speak- then closed it again. If Ron was going to think she wasn't her…she could get something interesting out of this…
"Why? I- she's just a know it all bookworm after all," Hermione replied slyly, resting on her knees.
"She's my best friend!" Ron said angrily, getting up and looking down at her. "And- hold on a minute. Hermione?" he said weakly in disbelief at the girl below him. Hermione raised an eyebrow.
"Yes?"
"Oh bugger," Ron mumbled, sitting down again. "Why didn't you stop me?" he asked, struggling to wash his face of red.
Hermione shrugged. "I did. But you wouldn't listen, would you?" she countered.
"So what is this place?" Ron interrupted, abruptly changing the subject. "Who were those- those Hermiones?"
"I'm not sure, but from what I've gathered by being here they were basically…well, other versions of me if that makes any sense," Hermione offered.
"It doesn't," Ron said flatly.
"Okay. Well," she said, trying to grasp an explanation. "For example, the creepy ghost Hermione? She was the dead version of me…or something. And the other girl was basically a very giddy me. I reckon there are a thousand of me here, at least." Ron nodded slowly, trying to digest this.
"Have you- have you seen any of me yet?" he asked, all too aware of how ridiculous that sounded. Hermione bit back her laughter.
"You may want to brace yourself, but yes," she said. Ron's jaw dropped.
"Well?" he asked impatiently. "What was it like?"
"He-"
"What's this? Getting cozy with the Muggle chick? Niiice." Ron's head snapped up as Hermione started laughing loudly behind him. There, standing in front of him, was a leather clad red haired boy, the trademark wisps gelled down heavily and hands thrust rebelliously into his biking jacket.
"What the bloody hell?!?" Ron roared, leaping up and looking this newcomer over. "Who the fu- oh my God." The boy removed his sunglasses and Hermione doubled up as Ron recognized his own blue eyes.
"She's definitely worth a once over," the Ron was saying, "I always thought so. You know, in first year, when I saved her? Single handedly if you're interested," he added with a smirk that made Ron think of Malfoy, "I knew she'd grow into something. So you're finally taking the initiative? Good on you mate!" He clapped Ron on the shoulder heartily, but Ron threw the hand off of him in disgust.
"Will you look at this? This prat's being me!" Ron said in disbelief to Hermione, whose face had gone quite rosy from all the compliments from Biker Ron.
"He is you," she said simply. Ron scowled as the other one chuckled and sped off on its ghostly motorbike.
"How fast can we get away from this place?" he said angrily as he plopped back down next to Hermione. She sighed and leaned back on her elbows.
"Whenever they figure out how to take us out," she said. Ron groaned and leaned onto his back, looking up at the fog encrusted sky.
"We'll be in here forever!"
--
"So, how's the Whirlpool of Doom going?" Draco drawled sarcastically, looking up from the (incredibly boring) Exploding Snap game he was playing with Ginny.
Harry's head didn't move as he answered. "Shut up Malfoy."
"But seriously," Draco continued, dropping his cards in exasperation on the pile. "How long does it bloody take to get a mirror to spit out a couple people?"
"Like the boy said Draco: shut up!" Pansy said through clenched teeth, looking up briefly from the book she and Harry were poring over.
"It is taking a rather long time," Ginny said sighing, throwing down her cards as well. "Isn't there anything we can do?" Harry stopped reading for a moment before shaking his head briefly.
"No."
Ginny's eyes narrowed. "You're telling me that this is how you plan to get them out? Read a book?" Harry didn't answer. This made Ginny increasingly indignant. "Honestly! This is ridiculous. I'm going out for a breather." To everyone's astonishment, Ginny pushed herself up off the floor and strode out, kicking off Pansy's boot as she did and leaving them inside.
"Great," Draco commented dully. "Now I'm stuck in here with Potter, Parkinson, and two shoes whose smell rivals the Slytherin locker room."
--